L-5 Stinson

Anybody out there got any firsthand experience in an old WW2 L-5 Sentinel? I've been reading about their short field abilities, at least landing short. The late models featured drooping ailerons along with the leading edge outer slats and landing gear shock absorbtion for really dropping them in. The big downside seems to be their oddball O-435 190 hp Lyc., wood wings and useful load under 700 lbs.- because they are built so heavily, I presume. Seems like if you could strip some weight out of it and repower with an O-540 it would be a great bush bird.... no stc available for the 540 repower however.

Foolish person that I am; I had two supercubs, sold them and bought an Stinson L-5 Ambulance version about 30 years ago. It was the later model with drooping ailerons and leading edge slats. It was kind of a pig; unless you cruised over 2500 rpm it mushed along nose high. Landings were always intersting if greased on because one gear leg would spread first so always a little tail wag. Poor brakes, overheated easily. Engine would lope at low rpm. Very tail heavy and not enough rudder. Easy enough to fly but not enough performance for me. Replaced it with L-19 on floats: Wow! Replaced the L-19 with Wilga PZL 35; even better. Now flying a Husky on Wip Amphibs. Still miss my Supercubs.
AllanD

Instructed in an ambulance model for a couple years. Ours had an adjustable prop, which helped a lot for takeoff. So much torque and P factor, and little rudder, that students frequently could not keep it going straight down the runway. And, no brakes in the back. Several times we took off perpendicular with the runway. Tower got used to it. Lots of fun to fly it really slow with flaps and aileron droop down, like in flour bag bombing contests. We did well. Could make spectacular short landings, but as said above, we never took off like they used to show in old Army training films, where they landed an L-5 in a back yard, and took off over a 6 foot picket fence in a couple hundred feet. Heavy, but good fun.

Got destroyed when a piece of the prop broke off. Emergency landing going well, but running out of clearing. Instructor in rear seat tried to ground loop it, but student kept using brakes to make it go straight again, and instructor could not win. Slid into trees. Wreck was later purchased and rebuilt by others, I think.
Chuck Shaw

Is the wing on the L5 the same wing used on the Stinson 108?

Cub_Driver